Every stride that 17-year-old Algona track runner Kali Garman takes is a painful one, but you wouldn’t know it by observing her overwhelmingly positive attitude and vibrant smile.

While riding her 1974 Suzuki 250 motorcycle two years ago in June at a farm in Kossuth County, Iowa, Garman was involved in a nightmarish accident that took her leg. The throttle got stuck and she flailed out of control, went through a side ditch and landed on Highway 18, colliding with the front driver’s side of an SUV.

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Garman, who wasn't wearing a helmet, was thrown from the motorcycle and suffered a serious injury to her right leg. She had to be flown to Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Then she received the bad news: She was going to lose her leg.

As the blow came to her, Garman thought to herself: “This isn’t the end, and I will come back from this.” It’s just small glimpse into her inspiring personality that consists of dedication and perseverance.

“(I was) shocked that it happened,” said Brian Connick, co-head coach of the varsity girls' track team. “And then it really turned quickly into just hoping and praying that she was going to be OK.”

It was only the beginning of her road to a slow and long recovery. It took about six to seven months for her skin to heal to the point where she could get a prosthetic leg and learn to walk again.

“I was eager because you go to school and you’re the only one in a wheelchair,” Garman said. “You take for granted your freedom. I was ready to be back on my feet.”

When she was fitted for her prosthetic, it took some adjustment, but after trial and error, she was walking after the first day.

Garman was also a swimmer, frequently visiting the YMCA. She told KCCI’s Vanessa Peng in September 2015 that swimming was her mental escape.

“It’s just you and your thoughts, and it’s kind of therapeutic sometimes just to get in the water and be by yourself," she said. “I think that’s just how I handle a lot of my problems.”

But Garman has always been optimistic about being an athlete again: “I initially was scared. No one likes to lose.”

“She made up her mind that she was going to return to as much of a normal lifestyle, and if you know Kali, if she’s decided she’s going to do something, it’s going to happen,” Connick said.

The Algona community illustrated an outpouring of support for the Garman family as she never lost hope of returning to the fast lane.

Some swim teammates sold T-shirts to help raise money for Garman’s medical bills. She also received an approximately $20,000 prosthetic leg from Shriners Hospitals for Children in Minneapolis.

“It’s been really, really crazy, and we’re so grateful, Garman said. “People have done some crazy things for me; it has been awesome.”

Fast forward to this week’s track meet in Webster and it’s safe to say Garman is back on the track this season.

“(Running) does hurt,” she said. “I can feel it with every step, but it’s OK. I can tolerate it.”

One of the downfalls of her prosthetic leg is she sometimes kicks herself with a blade while running, something she experienced on Tuesday.

“It hurt a lot, but I didn’t fall,” Garman laughed.

Beside the pain, beside uneasiness of having one leg, beside the fact she always gets last at every track meet, she’s happy because she gets to fulfill her life passion at least in some capacity: compete.

“Competing again has definitely been a big part in my healing process, and I’m just thankful for where I’m at,” Garman said. “The joy of being able to be normal and run, for me, is way greater than any pain I would ever feel.”

In an emotional moment during the Webster City track meet, one of Garman’s paramedics, Ben Darling, drove more than two hours to pay a surprise visit to one of his patients.

As the two embraced in a long hug, Garman fought back tears: “I am going to cry. This is not OK. Why are you here?”

“Well, somebody told me to come say hi,” Darling said.

“Was it my mom?” Garman said.

“Maybe,” Darling said.

“Oh my gosh,” Garman said.

“This all got arranged this morning,” Darling said.

“This is my nurse,” Garman said.

“Let’s call me paramedic,” Darling said.

“Yeah, no you’re a nurse,” Garman laughed.

“It’s very good to see her up and about,” Darling said. “What are you going to run today?”

“You know, every once in a while, you just have a special connection with somebody that comes through, and you just hold onto that,” Darling said.

Garman has been an inspiration to her teammates, who aren’t surprised she has recovered this well.

“I look up to her a lot,” junior Kelsey Connick said. “Knowing Kali, she has been so persistent. If she has a goal, she is going to go get it.”

Garman spreads her positive influence to other areas of athletics as well, including coaching swim teams in her town. Though she’s dealt with hardships throughout her high school career, there is nothing dragging her down.